Aquino Cabinet Quits to Give Her Free Hand

President Corazon Aquino’s entire Cabinet submitted its resignation today in a “spontaneous combustion” move giving her a chance to reorganize her executive branch in the bitter aftermath of a bloody coup attempt.

The first resignations were tendered without notice at a morning meeting involving 11 Cabinet secretaries. The rest of the 24 secretaries and four commissioners were summoned to an emergency afternoon session where they fell in line with their colleagues.

In Washington, White House spokesman Marlin Fitzwater said, “We in the U.S. government support the Aquino government and her attempts to strengthen her government and establish the rule of law. This move should be helpful in providing her the flexibility to establish her leadership.”

Vice President Salvador Laurel, who was visiting military bases in the south of the country, pledged his resignation as foreign affairs secretary by telephone.

Press Secretary Teodoro Benigno, one of the first to quit, said Aquino remained “poised and synchronized” as the executive officers turned in the resignations on handwritten slips of paper, but did not say how she will proceed.

“She has not told us, ‘I have accepted your resignations,’ ” he said. “We continue to function.”

The pro-Aquino majority in the House of Representatives promptly passed a resolution congratulating the Cabinet on its action. Senate President Jovito Salonga also welcomed the move, saying, “It shows the government is responding positively to public opinion.”

The unsolicited resignations, described by Benigno as the result of “spontaneous combustion” among the Cabinet members, followed 12 days of tension and backbiting which was climaxed Tuesday with Executive Secretary Joker Arroyo’s dramatic appearance before Congress.

The outspoken adviser and leader of the Cabinet’s liberal wing, who also resigned today, delivered an impassioned speech Tuesday before the House of Representatives in which, among other things, he questioned the loyalty of the military and leveled charges of treason against three prominent businessmen. (Story on Page 6.)

Emanuel Soriano, chairman of the president’s Crisis Management Committee, denied that the resignations were a response to demands from the band of mutinous soldiers led by Col. Gregorio (Gringo) Honasan, whose Aug. 28 coup bid left 53 people dead and more than 200 wounded.

“We just recounted the events of the last several weeks and we felt that things have come to a head,” he said.